The Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association wants state law changed so that police agencies can classify certain information as “intelligence” and make it inaccessible to the public.

The proposal would allow police to collect information on suspected gang members, terrorists or other suspected criminals, possibly similar to the now-defunct GangNet database.

The controversial database, a collaboration of police agencies statewide, was used to maintain information about suspected gang members. The database, created by Ramsey County but not authorized by state law, was shut last August after criticism that it included people who weren’t gang members.

The new proposal, referred to as the “intelligence classification bill,” would create a new classification for government data under the state’s open-records law.

Dave Pecchia, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, said the group also would introduce a companion bill to specify how data could be collected and processed and how long it could be maintained.

This was one of several proposals discussed informally Monday at a meeting hosted by the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information, a nonpartisan advocacy group that promotes access to government information.

Rich Neumeister, a St. Paul resident and longtime public records advocate at the Capitol, said there’s a lot of buzz about this proposal, leading him to believe that it will be introduced this legislativesession.

Neumeister said the plan effectively would create a “domestic intelligence network” in Minnesota “that represents a trade-off between public safety and civil liberties.” In addition, some police information that is currently public likely would become inaccessible.

“The question is how we’re going to do it with meaningful accountability and so that people’s rights aren’t compromised,” Neumeister said.

To see video of Monday’s meeting about proposed changes to the state’s open-records law, go to twincities.com.

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